


Jumping over the bridge

by Serahne



Series: Komahina Week 2017 [2]
Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: And yet, M/M, When it's too early to fall in love, because they don't even know who they are anyway, post sdr2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-25 02:07:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12025854
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serahne/pseuds/Serahne
Summary: “It’s not that Hinata doesn’t want to chat with Komaeda or anything, but this doesn’t seem to be a life-or-death situation, and his brain is starting to get sleepy again. So he smiles encouragingly at the other boy, a nice way to say ‘out with it’, and he waits. Nightmare ? Existential crisis ? One particularly nasty memory coming back ? He is unfortunately becoming good at dealing with these type of crisis. Komaeda never came to him for that, but he can adapt.Except that it’s not what Komaeda is here for, for he takes a deep breath before finally looking straight at Hinata, a determined light in his eyes.“I’m in love with you, Hinata.”





	Jumping over the bridge

The last time someone knocked at Hinata’s door in the middle of the night, Tsumiki was in the process of ripping her fingernails, one by one, and a distressed Mioda has rushed toward his cabin hoping that he would find a way to calm her down. It was months ago, of course, and everyone is now trying to live with their own demons, but the memory is still so vivid that when he hears the knock, at three in the morning, he opens his eyes without delay, perfectly awake and ready to act if needed.

His brain thinks about so many possibilities during the few seconds he needs to open the door that one part of him isn’t entirely surprised to see Komaeda in front of his cabin, absolutely drenched by the pouring rain outside, his eyes wide and a little crazy looking somewhere over Hinata’s shoulder.

“Komaeda ?” He says with caution. “Is everything alright ?” 

This is a stupid question, - _does everything seem alright to you_ , a mocking little voice whispers in his ears - but he blames it on the fact that it’s _three in the morning._

Komaeda barely moves, just look briefly at Hinata before going back to looking at the wall in front of him.

“Do you want to come in ?” Hinata decides to try again, a little worried by Komaeda’s state right now.

Sure, he isn’t dying anymore. But that’s hardly a reason to walk around completely wet. He is at least good for a cold, maybe even a pneumonia.

“Ah… no.” The white-haired boy replies, and Hinata is distracted by Komaeda’s hands.

He is pulling on his fingers in an unconscious gesture, and without thinking, Hinata puts his hand on the other boy’s.

“Don’t do that, it’s going to ruin your knuckles.” He explains, when he hears how Komaeda’s breath catches up in his throat.

“... Thank you, I didn’t notice.” He mumbles in return.

It’s not that Hinata doesn’t want to chat with Komaeda or anything, but this doesn’t seem to be a life-or-death situation, and his brain is starting to get sleepy again. So he smiles encouragingly at the other boy, a nice way to say ‘out with it’, and he waits. Nightmare ? Existential crisis ? One particularly nasty memory coming back ? He is unfortunately becoming good at dealing with these type of crisis. Komaeda never came to him for that, but he can adapt.

Except that it’s not what Komaeda is here for, for he takes a deep breath before finally looking straight at Hinata, a determined light in his eyes.

“I’m in love with you, Hinata.”

 

*

 

“Komaeda said what ?!”

Hinata looks nervously around - he made sure that Kazuichi and him were the only one in the cafeteria, but were they ever alone on this island ? - before answering his friend. He feels a little guilty, gossiping this way about Komaeda’s feelings for him, but what is he supposed to do ? At least he picked someone he trusts.

Well, he trusts Kazuichi, but he also knows that him and Komaeda have this weird ‘non-aggression pact’ thing going on where they are supposed to stay as far away from the other as possible. As lame as it sounds, he needs someone on his side.

“Shhh !” Hinata hisses over his cup of tea. “I told you. That he was in love with me.”

Kazuichi frowns.

“What ? But why ?” He seems so confused that it’s almost insulting.

“Thanks. I feel the love.” Hinata replies, not entirely serious.

“You know what I mean. Are you guys even friends ?”

This is rich coming from a guy who spent so much time going after a girl he barely considered as a human being, but Hinata can see his point. He squirms uncomfortably on his chair.

“I mean, yeah, kind of ? We talk, sometimes.”

Well, Hinata talks and Komaeda listens, most of the time. The only thing Komaeda really loves to discuss are the books he is reading, and each time Hinata smiles at the rambling, and the light in his friend’s - yes, because they are friends in a way, _why not after all_ \- eyes. He picked up the habit to check the books the other seems the most fond of : at first trying to understand Komaeda a little better, but now because he realized that the white-haired boy’s tastes are actually pretty good, and reading is a good way to waste time.

“Wow” Kazuichi says, rolling his eyes. “What a passionate relationship. You bet that he needed to scream his love for you at 3 o’clock.”

“Shut up.”

Hinata takes a sip of his darjeeling - it’s still a little hot, but he can drink it without burning his tongue.

“He doesn’t love me. It’s the same thing all over again.”

He can’t help the bitterness to pierce through his tone. One of the weirdest things after waking-up was… well, people thinking they were in love with him ? Though ‘that they needeed him’ is more accurate. One of Future Foundation’s therapist explained it to a bewildered Hinata one day : many people on the island woke up feeling very lost and in a weakened mental state, and saw a strength in Hinata that they wanted to cling onto for their own mental stability. Thus their brain turning the whole thing in a pseudo-affection for him.

Hinata could understand the theory, but he was a mess, and had a hard time thinking he could be seen as a reassuring person. Yet there was no other explanation to Sonia’s pleads to persuade him to come with her when she’ll come back to the Novoselic Kingdom. Or to Koizumi’s bushing cheeks and stumbling words whenever he was around. Both these situation had been resolved by a simple discussion, and their ‘love’ had quickly died down, even if Koizumi was still a little harsher toward him than anyone else.

And then there was Tsumiki. It had been terrible but beneficial in the worst way possible, since the incident with her nails has been the clear indication that she would not get better alone, and needed an important professional help to deal with her co-dependency.

And here he was again, with Komaeda this time. He isn’t really happy about it.

He sighs, and starts to sip his cup of tea to keep the annoyance away. It’s not Komaeda’s fault. It still pisses him off.

“Whatever” He says, almost more to himself than Kazuichi. “I said that I would talk to him later. Let’s hope he won’t be too stubborn about it.”

He tries to ignore Kazuichi ‘Yeah, right, good luck with that’, and lets his mind wander, thinking about his future conversation with Komaeda.

 

*

 

He is so sure that Komaeda is going to try and avoid him that he looks everywhere except where he is usually. He ends up finding him at the beach, which is in the Top 3 of his favorite place to hang out, with the library and his own cabin. The boy is looking at the sea, but his eyes are far away, lost in whatever he is thinking about.

Hinata watches him for a whole minute, for afar, trying to understand what’s going on inside his complicated brain, noting how a fleeting thought will twist his lips into a shadow of a smile, or will make him frown, in this weird, childish way that he can’t remember seeing Komaeda make in front of other people.

Komaeda can be really lovely, when no one is watching.

Then he realizes that he is being a little creepy, stalking his friend like that, and that he probably should say something.

“Huh, Komaeda. Can we talk ?”

Komaeda turns his head toward him and a bright smile appears on his lips, and even if it’s wide and more open than the ones he had when lost in thoughts, Hinata doesn’t feel the same warmth in his chest.

“Of course Hinata ! Come sit with me !” He says.

He moves a little on the left, as if to give a place to Hinata by his side, as if he didn’t have the whole beach to sit on. Hinata smiles a little at that and decides to be nice, for he is about to reject him in a polite, but brutal way. He didn’t think about what he is going to say - he remembers his conversation with Sonia and Koizumi ( he doesn’t want to remember the one with Tsumiki ). The _we don’t really know each others_ , _I don’t have to be with you to support you_ , _I’m not well enough to enter a relationship_. The key is to not lie, to be as sincere as possible, because they deserve it.

“I just wanted to talk about what you said to me this morning.” Hinata starts, keeping his smile to show that _it’s okay, i’m not angry_ because Komaeda can be a pain in the ass when he thinks he did something wrong.

“Ah. Alright.”

Komaeda blinks, and Hinata is so close that he notices how long and white his eyelashes is, and then mentally punches himself in the face, because is there a worst time to start thinking about Komaeda’s eyelashes ? Probably not.

“I just…” Hinata says, ready to unleash the whole ‘it’s not you it’s me’ speech on his friend. But then he just sees something in Komaeda’s eyes, something that is not hope, and that’s weird, right ? When you confess to someone, you have some hope that the person will like you back, right ? He catches his tongue before any more word can come out and says, instead : “Why do you love me ?”

Komaeda’s eyes go wide, and he is sure he wasn’t expecting this question.

“... Why ?” He repeats, and it’s like he wasn’t sure of the meaning of the word.

“Yeah.” Hinata replies. “I mean, how did you think _damn, I love him, better go wake him up at 3 in the morning to tell him_ ?”

He is a little harsh, but he has a hunch, and Komaeda is crossing his arms over his chest in a defensive gesture, all trace of his glorious smile gone, and Hinata is not backpedaling on this one.

“I…” Komaeda says. “I have for the first time found what I can truly love–I have found you. You are my sympathy–my better self–my good angel–I am bound to you with a strong attachment. I think you good, gifted, lovely: a fervent, a solemn passion is conceived in my heart; it leans to you, draws you to my centre and spring of life, wrap my existence about you–and, kindling in pure, powerful flame, fuses you and me in one.”

 _Holy shit_ , Hinata thinks, impressed in spite of himself. And then he laughs because that’s ridiculous. Komaeda doesn’t seem very happy with the reaction, especially when Hinata doesn’t seem to stop, shaking under his fits of laughter.

“Was my answer inadequate ?” Komaeda says “It’s to be expected from someone like…”

But Hinata is laughing so much that his vision is starting to get blurry because of the tears.

“What the fuck Komaeda ! Did you really feed me _Jane Eyre_ right now ?”

Komaeda’s face goes from white to red in a blind of an eye.

“Uh” he says, without looking at Hinata. “I guess I did.I didn’t know you read it ?”

“I read it recently. You told me you really enjoyed this book, so I’ve decided to check it out for myself.” He explains, though he still has the hardest time containing himself. “A little corny for my tastes, but it was great.”

“It’s not corny, Hinata.” The other says, clearly unhappy with his judgement.

“Well, we’ll have to talk about it later I guess ?” Hinata smiles - and it’s ridiculous but he feels so much better now that he knows that it’s _Komaeda_ and not another episode of Hinata being a jerk and rejecting people.

He is so tired of rejecting people.

“In the meantime, care to explain what this is all about ? The whole ‘I love you business’ ? You’re not the kind of person who will just mess with someone like that for fun, right ?”

Komaeda mumbles something he doesn’t understand. His cheeks are still flaming red, and Hinata has the urge to touch one, just to feel the heat radiating from them. He doesn’t, of course. That would be weird.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that” He says. “Talk to me and not to the sand, maybe ?”

Komaeda sighs and while he still isn’t looking at Hinata, it’s easier to hear him when he talks.

“It’s just that we have been spending so much time together lately… I’m just not used to it.” Komaeda admits, starting to do this thing where he pulls on his fingers again.

“So… you told me you loved me to keep me away ?” Hinata snorts. “You had better plans in the past, you know.”

“Well, it happened with Sonia and Koizumi ( he doesn’t talk about Tsumiki and Hinata is grateful for it, because after all the work he did to convince himself that it’s not his fault, Komaeda talking about her would have been terrible ). You are… very stubborn but I don’t think you are able to handle love very well.”

 _Yeah Pot, I’m a Kettle and I’m scared of love_ , he huffs quietly.

“You know that if you don’t want to hang out with me, you don’t have to, right ? I’m never forcing you to do anything.” Hinata says.

“But I **want** to.” Komaeda snaps. “That’s the whole point. I really like spending time with you. I wouldn’t have done that if I didn’t want to.”

Silence. The white-haired boy is shaking by his side, and Hinata licks his suddenly-very-dry lips.

“Uh… that’s great. I mean, I like hanging out with you too.” He says.

Komaeda doesn’t answer, doesn’t even look at him, and is still trying to tear off the fingers from his real hand. It’s still not an habit, but Hinata doesn’t hesitate to wrap his hand around Komaeda’s robotic hand, stopping him quietly.

“... thanks” The other boy says, letting his hands fall on the ground. “Thanks” he repeats, though Hinata is not sure if he talking about his fingers right now.

“You’re welcome.” Hinata gets up, doing his best to brush off the sand on his pants. “ I got to go, but please promise me something : if you ever decide to try and bomb our relationship again, don’t wake me up in the middle of the night. Deal ?”

Komaeda blushes but nods.

“Deal.”

He nods back, satisfied, and starts going back to the hotel, his heart just a little bit lighter. Overwhelmed by a sudden inspiration, he turns around, surprised to see that Komaeda is observing him while he is walking away.

“Hey, Komaeda.” He takes a deep breath. “Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own : in pain and sickness it would still be dear. Your mind is my treasure, and if it were broken, it would be my treasure still.” Then : “See, I can do it too.”

Komaeda laughs at that.

“That was very corny, Hinata. I expected better from you.”

“See ?” He replies, triumphantly. “Told you so !”


End file.
